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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23333821">Familiar Flames</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/RevlisCharm/pseuds/RevlisCharm'>RevlisCharm</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Lego Ninjago</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Banished au, Short One Shot, Zane is mentioned, emperor kai - Freeform, kai is evil</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 06:34:48</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,617</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23333821</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/RevlisCharm/pseuds/RevlisCharm</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Just a birthday present for someone. Banished AU belongs to @anxiousworm on tumblr!</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>24</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Familiar Flames</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Lloyd couldn’t believe his eyes.</p>
<p>Either his nerves were on such a stretch that no shock could strain them further, or his mind was inoculated to horrors, for he did not cry out at what he saw nor retreat from it.</p>
<p>And yet, lounging smugly on the throne of golden remains before him was Kai Smith.</p>
<p>The brunette’s hair had grown out a considerable amount, stretching down his back in messy tangles. The armor he wore over his make-shift gi seemed as if it belonged to someone else, almost too old and used for Kai.</p>
<p>His eyes were the same, though; at least from when he last saw him. Such a horrible shade of red. So different from who he once knew.</p>
<p>“Kai…? What- why-? How?!” is all he can muster, a bitter taste in the back of his mouth. The red ninja—or rather, former red ninja—raises an eyebrow at the blonde.</p>
<p>“Surprised?”</p>
<p>“Yes!” Lloyd exclaims before frowning, “Where is Zane?”</p>
<p>It’s the other’s turn to frown now. “That’s none of your business; after all, you were the one who left him here.”</p>
<p>“I didn’t-!”</p>
<p>He’s cut off sharply as he attempts to step forward, a wall of fire leaping up from the ground before him. It beats him back as a wall of intense heat that threatens to burn his lungs, cooking him from the inside as he tries to escape the flames.</p>
<p>Fire was such a beautiful weapon, he couldn’t help but think. It shines with all its glory, the warmth along with the welcoming feel it gives, but as you slowly approach it snarls and bites. Everything you love could be gone in minutes, due to a single nip.</p>
<p>Kai <em>was</em> his element. So warm, so beautiful, so welcoming; the human embodiment of fire. Safe and comforting, but becoming destructive and violent when left unchecked.</p>
<p>“You can’t taint me with your lies, <em>Lloyd</em>,” he hisses, eyes narrowing with contempt.</p>
<p>It was then that dread tugged at the blonde’s stomach, noticing with abstract horror the staff in Kai’s hand, and the oh-so-familiar scroll curled around the top. He gulps, perspiration beading on his forehead and running down his face; whether from the room’s humidity or his anxiety, he couldn’t tell.</p>
<p>“Where is Zane?” Lloyd repeats, a sense of urgency seeping into his voice. “What did you do with him?!”</p>
<p>Kai gives him a surprised look, like a child catching an older person in a foolish statement.</p>
<p>“He’s fine,” he relents, causing Lloyd to sigh despite his doubts. “Better off, actually, ever since <em>I </em>saved him.”</p>
<p>“What?”</p>
<p>“Oh, I’m sure you’d like to know all about how I liberated this and so many other realms, but for now-“</p>
<p>The master of Fire stood up, expression hardening with sick anticipation. “I have an annoying blond brat I need to take care of.”</p>
<p>Lloyd took a step back warily, “Kai, listen-“</p>
<p>“No, YOU listen!”</p>
<p>The livid elemental is upon him in moments, forcing him to parry a strike with his bare hands.</p>
<p>“THIS IS YOUR FAULT! All you do is hurt and manipulate others! You abandoned him just like you abandoned me! You left him to ROT. To stay here, suffering, for years and years to come!” he spat, and suddenly Lloyd’s hands were burning. He yelped, releasing his grip just when Kai’s balled fist collided with his cheekbone, flaying his neck backward like a willow caught in the wind. He stumbled a few paces before stopping, fixing his gaze upon his former friend once more.</p>
<p>“This isn’t helping anyone, you know that. Can’t you see this is wrong?” Lloyd swallows, trying to shove down his guilt as he continued, “And besides, we didn’t come here…for you. We came for Zane.”</p>
<p>But he wanted Kai to come back, he truly did. And the brief expression of hurt that flitted across his brother’s face tore at his insides.</p>
<p>“You can’t have him back,” the brunette seethed, and Lloyd wanted to scream.</p>
<p>He hated every second of this. He didn’t want to fight his- his brother. He just wanted them to be a family again, he just…</p>
<p>“You just want to take everything away from me again.”</p>
<p>
  <em>No, I don’t.</em>
</p>
<p>“You took my friends-“</p>
<p>
  <em>I didn’t-</em>
</p>
<p>“My family-“</p>
<p>
  <em>No, no-</em>
</p>
<p>“And everything else! You won’t take what I have left; I won’t let you.”</p>
<p>The fire flashes into existence in a wash of red and yellow sparks, rushing towards Lloyd at incredible speed. There’s no time to even think of a plan, only to react, throwing his body out of the way—</p>
<p>—and right into Kai’s own physical attack, which knocks him directly into the flames he was just avoiding. He can’t help the cry that escapes his mouth as he quickly puts out the fire on his clothes, yet there’s no time to rest as more attacks are launched towards him, confining him to the defensive. He observes each time the flames leaping and hissing, always reaching feverishly out for him, trying desperately to grab and hold onto his fleeting figure. Yet time and time again he miraculously escapes their attempts, only for another one to leave him breathless.</p>
<p>He feels almost sunburned from the intense heat, body covered in cuts and burns, and his clothes were sticky and uncomfortable thanks to this unbearable humidity. He’s so tired of fighting, of hurting. Why won’t the universe just let him rest already, and stop trying to come up with new ways to torment him?</p>
<p>His heart constricts upon spotting the triumph grin twisting Kai’s features, stretching wide across his face.</p>
<p>“Is this really all you have to offer? Man, you really are weak. No wonder you always needed me to protect you.”</p>
<p>Lloyd shakes his head in denial, “Don’t…don’t say that. I didn’t-“</p>
<p>“YES, YOU DID!” Kai screams suddenly, his staff now shoved against the blonde’s throat as he thrusts him against the ground. Lloyd gags, small ragged gasps escaping his throat as Kai robbed him of breath.</p>
<p>“You were <em>always</em> holding me back—you and Sensei and everyone else who tried to get in my way! I’ve seen through your fucking lies, Lloyd. All you ever did was manipulate me like you manipulated everyone around you! I can’t believe…” his voice teeters as if he’s balancing dangerously on the edge of saying something that will hurt him.</p>
<p>“I can’t believe I actually cared about you.”</p>
<p>“K-“ Lloyd bites his tongue, worried speaking might break Kai out of whatever daze he was in.</p>
<p>“You…you were my brother, Lloyd. Do you have any idea how much it hurt when after everything I did for you, I‘m suddenly shoved aside just because of some title? ‘The Green Ninja’, what a fucking joke. You never even wanted it, but I did—First Master, how I did. But- but you agreed with me, right? I would have been—I am—the right Green Ninja.”</p>
<p>His eyes are staring deep into his now, gleaming with desperation and unshed tears. “Don’t you, Lloyd? You never even wanted the title….don’t you agree with me?”</p>
<p>“…I…I didn’t want it, but-“</p>
<p>His facial features soften into a smile, and Lloyd wants to sob. He missed that smile, that happiness- everything. It was so refreshing yet so painful to be a part of it again.</p>
<p>“I could…I could help you understand! It might hurt, of course, but don’t worry-“</p>
<p>“Kai, what are yo-? <b>NO</b>!”</p>
<p>A scream rips from his throat as oddly colored flames lick up his body, but he’s trapped between the staff and floor, he can’t move, he can’t breathe-</p>
<p>“KAI, STOP-! NO-! <em>KAI!!</em>”</p>
<p>He continues to choke and sputter under the pressure and heat, energy gradually sapping away. He can’t escape the intense heat of the flames as it slowly engulfs him, the world around him becoming so distant and hazy. Through it all, though, he can hear Kai’s frenzied reassurances, all lies in his mind.</p>
<p>And yet, despite being slowly cooked alive, he doesn’t want to hurt his brother. Kai, who was smiling, who was <em>happy</em>—how could he ruin that? How could he-</p>
<p>The violent explosion that rocks the room sends them both flying, slamming into the ground respectively.</p>
<p>The silence was like a gaping void, needing to be filled with sounds, words, anything.</p>
<p>There’s a smoldering hole in Kai’s armor now, yet it seemed to do its job in protecting its wearer well enough. Lloyd’s powers had reacted in defense, yet both were not unscathed.</p>
<p>The Green Ninja stood up shakily, eyes wide with terror, heart pounding against his ribs as if trying to fulfill a thousand beats. He had felt his mind slipping away, world growing darker and distant…but not dying. He knew what death was, and that wasn’t it. Something foreign had been trying to worm its way in, yet it was so familiar, so comforting…</p>
<p>“I fell for it again, I guess.”</p>
<p>Kai’s voice shatters the delicate silence like a bullet, and Lloyd’s every atom is shouting at him to run.</p>
<p>“Your lies. Your pleading voice, your…you damn…”</p>
<p>He hoisting himself up from the ground, wiping his busted lip with the back of his hand as Lloyd inches back. But he can’t leave without Zane, they had come so far, he couldn’t just go-</p>
<p>“Don’t think I’ll just let you leave. Not without something to remember me by, yeah?”</p>
<p>He wants to say something. He wants to scream, to run. But the world around him has turned to an inferno, and there’s no means of escaping it.</p>
<p>The last thing he sees is flickering crimson and blue and black, all rushing towards him at once, and someone crying out his name.</p>
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